A (Very) Brief History of the English Language
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British theatresUntil reccently the history of the english theatre has been build around actors rather then companies. It was hard to find any London theatre that even had a consistent policy. There is no permanent staff in British theatres. A play is rehearsed for a few weeks by a company of actors working together mostly for the first time and it is allowed to run as long as it draws the odious and pays it's way. Another peculiarity of the theatres in Great Britain is as follows: there are two kinds of seats, which can be booked in advance (bookable), and unbookable ones have no numbers and the spectators occupy them on the principle: first come - first served. In ancient times plays were acted inside churches and later on the market places. The first theatre in England "The Blackfries" was built in 1576, and "The Globe", which is closely connected with William Shakespeare, was built in 1599. Speaking about our times we should first of all mention "The English National theatre","The Royal Shakespeare company" and "Covent Garden". "Covent Garden" used to be a fashionable promenade - it was, before then, a convent garden - but when it became overrun with flower-sellers, orange-vendors and vegetable-growers, the people moved to more exclusive surroundings farther west, such as "St. Jame's Square". The first "Covent Garden theatre" was built in 1732. It was burnt down in 1808 and rebuilt exactly a year after. It opened in September 1809, with Shakespeare's "Macbeth". Since the middle of the last century "Covent Garden" became exclusively devoted to opera. Now "Covent Garden" is busier than ever, it is one of the few well-known opera houses open for 11 months of the year and it employs over 600 people from both the Opera company and the Royal Ballet. CanadaCanada is a vast country, bigger than the United States, bigger than the continent of Australia. It is in fact one of the world’s largest countries. Its area is about 10 mln sq km. As Canada extends for thousands of miles from the Arctic Ocean to the United States and from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, all kinds of weather conditions and scenery are to be found there. The population of Canada is 29 mln people. The capital is Ottawa; the main cities are Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. The word Canada comes from one of the Red Indian languages – “Kannata”, meaning “a number of huts”. Canada is often called the “Land of the Maple Leaf”. The maple leaf is the national emblem of Canada. The story of Canada goes back over 400 years. The French were the first settlers to this country. In 1759 Canada became a part of the British Empire. In 1931 became independent from Britain. Today Canada is an independent federative state, consisting of 10 provinces and 2 territories. It is a member of the Commonwealth, headed by the Queen of Great Britain. The two official languages are English and French. But many other languages are spoken: Italian, Chinese, German, Polish and Greek. Canada is a country with very high standards of living. This country is particularly advanced in the areas of health, education, social protection and human rights. ChinaChina is the one of the largest countries in the world. The total area of the country is over a million square kilometers. As for population, China is the first country in the world. Over one billion people live there. It means that one out of every five people in the whole world is Chinese. China is a great country, only it has a man-made object which is visible from outer space - The Great Wall. China has a recorded history of nearly four thousand years. It was a monarchy till 1949 when Mao Tse Tung became a head of the state. Since that year China has been a Socialist Republic. In 1976 China started the Cultural Revolution. It finished in 1976, when Mao died. And now China is in the hands of Deng Xiaping, who has given the country some freedom. Doors are now open to the rest of the world. And you can even come to China to study there. Some words about China’s education system. First of all, all foreign students will have to share a room with one Chinese student, which is very common. Days start very early, so they’ll have to get up at about six o’clock. There are morning exercises in the open air, and they will be invited to join. The breakfast is at about six thirty. The classes will probably be in English and Chinese, they begin at seven thirty. Lunch is at twelve, and then more classes until six. After school day students usually go to the cinema. In fact it’s very difficult to get tickets. People also like to go for a walk, to play cards or just to sit outside talking. The air in the streets is not polluted, because there are few cars but literally millions of bicycles. Chinese food is legendary that’s why you can find it in most cities in the world, and people like it very much. If you want to visit China you’ll have to get a visa. There are in fact many cities that you can visit with just the ordinary visa, and others that you need to get a visa from the local police station to go to. Now there is a very good train service and also an internal air service, but I think that it’ll be better if you travel by trains because you’ll see so much more of the country. And I also think that China is worth seeing. You’ll never forget it if you visit it. ChristmasThe word "Christmas" is derived from the words "Christ's Mass" - the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. But although Christmas is undoubtedly a Christian celebration, it is also true to say that it is an unusual combination of pagan and Christian festivities. A Christmas tree stands in everybody's living room at Christmas, shining its good cheer around the room. Sitting on the very top of the tree is a silver star surrounded by tiny lights. All the branches are hung with silver bells, tinsel and sparkling lights. Around the base of the tree lie the gifts and toys wrapped up in bright colourful paper. The Christmas tree has spread its influence around the world. In fact America adopted it before it found its way to England early in Queen Victoria's reign. Now every Christmas British people are sent a huge fir tree from Norway which stands in Trafalgar Square, in the centre of London, shining down on all the people who gather on Christmas Eve. In pre-Christian times evergreens, trees that remain green throughout the year. were worshiped in Northern Europe as symbols of eternal life. Mistletoe, hung up as a Christmas decoration is a symbol of love and reconciliation. Holly, a well-known Christmas decoration today, has Christian associations. In Norwegian, Swedish and Danish, holly is known as "Christ's thorns", the legend being that Christ wore a crown of holly thorns before his death. Some people have seen associations between the word "holly" and "holy". Giving presents goes back to Roman Saturnalia when good luck gifts of fruit, pastry or gold were given to friends on New Year's Day. In Britain the traditional day to give presents until relatively recently was December 26th and not as it is today, Christmas Day. December 26th is now known as Boxing Day, for it was then that the priests of the Middle Ages opened alms boxes to give to the poor. Not all Christian customs and traditions are of ancient origin. Although various people have claimed to have designed the first Christmas card. William Egley, an English artist, seems to have the best claim. In 1842 he designed his own card and sent it to one hundred of his friends. Today three billion are sent annually in the United States alone.
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